The chiropractic profession is fractured into many
philosophical camps. The essence of this fracturing is a disassociation between
science, psycho-spiritual growth, and philosophy. One solution that could unify
the profession is to integrate the camps around a philosophical consensus within
the profession. Such a consensus does loosely exist: the concept that the living
organism is self-healing and self-organizing. While the philosophy of
chiropractic as proposed by Daniel David (D.D.) Palmer (1910) and developed by
his son Joshua Bartlett (B.J.) Palmer (1949) has fallen into disrepute in the
profession, this kernel of the self-healing ability of the organism remains. In
this paper a model is proposed based on the writings of B.J. Palmer and
explained using the analytical tools of integration developed by Wilber (1995).
This proposed model is meant to provide a context in which to understand and
decipher the confusing definitions associated with the Palmers’ term, innate
intelligence. The concept of innate intelligence served to define the
self-organizing aspects of the organism as well as the psycho-spiritual aspects
related to life and healing. Each philosophical camp within the profession can
orient itself in relation to Palmer’s model. By doing so, the possibility
exists for the profession to grow stronger through dialogue and understanding.
Out of that strength, new dialogues with other health and science disciplines
could open.

Based on his father’s insights, B.J. Palmer wrote
extensively about the psycho-spiritual aspects of healing that were related to
the chiropractic adjustment (Palmer, 1949, 1955, 1957, 1961). Due to his
language which was not differentiated, (for example, he used the same term,
innate intelligence to discuss the self-organizing aspects of living organisms
as well as the higher psycho-spiritual states of consciousness), and his often
abrasive rhetorical style, the profession has overwhelmingly left the philosophy
by the wayside. Fuller (1989) has noted that because of the profession’s
distancing from the philosophy, chiropractic has benefited from more money and
recognition by the federal government and the health industry. The cost,
however, has been the near irreparable fracturing of the profession itself.

Many in the profession look at the schism between the
therapeutic and the non-therapeutic objectives of care as the main fracture
(Strauss, 1991). I am suggesting that the actual source of philosophical
fracturing is based on the disassociation from any psycho-spiritual definitions
of health. This disassociation can be found in both spectrums, therapeutic and
non-therapeutic (Winterstien, 1998; Koch, 1998). The kernel of philosophy that
has remained in both of these spectrums is that the body is self-healing and
self-organizing. It is this core definition that should be used to unite the
many philosophical camps. Even those chiropractors that have let go of the
philosophy in order to establish a more credible and scientific profession would
benefit from this type of integration.

I will reconstruct B.J. Palmer’s philosophy as a simple
four-level model of consciousness (Diagram A). There
is no other systematic treatment of his philosophy to date. By using the
analytic tools proposed by Wilber (1995), such as his four-quadrant system, and
his concepts of differentiation, disassociation, and integration, and by placing
the philosophy of chiropractic in a cultural and historical context, the
four-level model will be supported.

A brief outline of the model is as follows; Level one is
universal intelligence, or the organizing impulse within all matter. Level two
is innate intelligence. This is the self-organizing and self-healing ability of
all living systems. Palmer sometimes referred to this as super-consciousness,
soul, spirit, life-force, as well as the law of organization. (Hence the
confusion.) This is the level where the loose consensus exists in the
profession. Level three is educated intelligence or the conscious thinking mind.
Level four, I define as self-creation (Senzon, 1999), whereas the conscious mind
first accepts the wisdom of the body as valid, and later allows that wisdom to
direct it in life. Palmer explained this as the phenomenon where educated
intelligence (level three) communes with innate intelligence (level two) and
eventually universal intelligence (level one).

It is at level four that the fracturing among chiropractors
occurs, especially because Palmer considered this stage of awareness as a
mystical merger with the intelligence of all creation. As mentioned above, in a
need to be more scientific and acceptable, much of the profession has dropped
the philosophy due to this undifferentiated explanation of the healing process
associated with the chiropractic adjustment. In fact, in the parlance of Wilber,
much of the profession has completely disassociated science from spirit and
philosophy. Wilber’s four-quadrant system of analysis will be an important
tool for integrating the philosophy and providing context for dialogue and
understanding.

I have chosen Palmer’s works over his father’s because,
in the younger Palmer’s writings, we not only see a fifty year development of
the theories, but we can witness his own spiritual development and his
interpretation of it in the language of his philosophy. His life and work have
never before been examined from this perspective. This examination will prove
invaluable as we discuss the philosophy in the context of modern-day disciplines
such as transpersonal and humanistic psychology, integral studies, consciousness
studies as well as systems science and health studies. The terminology
associated with each of these disciplines will be useful in differentiating the
core theories. For example, psycho-spiritual growth is a common term in
humanistic and transpersonal psychology (Taylor, 1999). By applying it to the
confusing spiritual aspects of Palmer’s philosophy, communication becomes
easier, and inter-disciplinary discourse becomes possible.

The Consensus

The consensus within the chiropractic profession about the
self-healing ability of the organism, stems from Palmer’s concept of innate
intelligence. He and his father proposed many definitions for this term. A few
of these were mentioned above; soul, organizing intelligence,
super-consciousness, as well as the law of organization in the body (Palmer,
1910; Palmer, 1949; Stephenson, 1927). Palmer related spiritual growth to a
mystical attunement with this intelligence. Some in the profession still
acknowledge this psycho-spiritual component of the definition (Williams, 2000).
Few in the profession agree on a definition of the term innate intelligence, yet
most agree that the body is self-healing in some fashion (Fuller, 1989).

Palmer addressed these conflicts throughout his writings.
He also discussed his own personal growth, and he taught how others could
achieve psycho-spiritual growth (Palmer, 1955). By simplifying his philosophy
into a four-level model of consciousness, a philosophical and historical context
is created. This can serve as a starting point for future dialogue amongst the
many factions in the profession. I am suggesting that they do share a common
ground.

Since the source of the philosophical confusion stems from
the psycho-spiritual aspect of the definition of innate intelligence, I will
spend a good part of this paper discussing that. Even though Palmer never really
defined how the different parts of innate intelligence (i.e., the organization
of the body and the psycho-spiritual aspects of growth and healing) are
differentiated, this model of consciousness does. In this way, we can go back to
the source of the discrepancy, and integrate instead of separate. The profession
can, for a moment, look beyond other major schisms, and look towards
philosophical integration along the concept of self-healing and self-creation.

Some Early History

Before discussing Palmer’s model of consciousness in more
detail, it is important to examine the roots of his philosophy as well as how he
developed it. To understand Palmer’s developments, it is important to look
briefly at his life. His roots can best be explained through the philosophy of
his father.

Daniel David Palmer (1845-1914) originated the philosophy
of chiropractic (Peterson & Weise, 1995). The philosophy was an attempt to
explain the healing associated with the chiropractic adjustment. Chiropractic
started when Palmer adjusted the vertebra of Harvey Lillard in 1895, which
restored Lillard’s hearing. Palmer had been a magnetic healer prior to
(delivering) this adjustment. Magnetic healing grew out of the teachings of
Mesmer (1734-1825). Mesmer’s system of magnetic healing was a precursor to
mental healing and hypnosis (Fuller, 1989). Palmer was also well read in the
Spiritualist tradition (Beck, 1991). Spiritualism focused on contact with the
after-life through séance and other means. It was very popular in America in
the 1890s (Taylor, 1999). Palmer’s creation of the philosophy of chiropractic
stems from these roots.

Palmer (1910) proposed that there is a universal
intelligence in all things, which actively gives matter its organization. A
subset of this was innate intelligence, which was the organizing principle in
living organisms. Palmer sometimes interchanged these terms with god and soul
respectively. According to Palmer, the nervous system was vital in the
organization of vertebrates. The misalignment of a vertebra could put pressure
on a nerve or the spinal cord (vertebral subluxation), thus causing a decrease
in the ability of the organism to express its inborn intelligence, which was an
aspect of the intelligence of all creation.

The vertebral subluxation is still considered a viable
model in much of the profession (Kent, 1997; Boone & Dobson, 1997). The role
of the chiropractic adjustment was to free the impediment to the expression of
the intelligence. When this expression was clear, Palmer proposed that the body
would achieve greater health, and the educated intelligence, or rational mind,
could listen to the guidance of the innate intelligence. Such “listening”
was akin to religious experience. All of these concepts were given to his son
Joshua Bartlett Palmer (1881-1961) at the age of eighteen. For the rest of his
life, until age eighty-one, the younger Palmer continually developed the
philosophy.

A
Philosophical Tradition

It is important to place the ideas in the context of their
time. Fuller (1986) discusses the philosophical and religious transitions of the
elder Palmer’s era. There was a need to bring spiritual principles into
popular culture to slow the tide of the “godless” scientific worldview. As
we will see, Wilber (1998) would consider this an early attempt to integrate the
disassociated value-spheres of science, morals, and art. According to Wilber,
the differentiation of these is the mark of modernity. Similar to this
assessment, Palmer explained his new health movement, chiropractic, as a
science, art, and philosophy. The Palmers’ philosophy, which connected the
biology of the organism via the nervous system to the integrating intelligence
of the cosmos, was an aspect of this intellectual and spiritual movement of the
era. It was an early attempt at the integral vision.

Fuller points out that the roots of these ideas can be
found in Transcendentalism as well as Mesmerism. Miller (2000) would agree. She
proposes that the Palmers’ philosophy is largely derived from Emerson. In the
teachings of Emerson and the Transcendentalists in general, spiritual
transformation is found through the contemplation of God in nature (Taylor,
1999). This doctrine is similar to the Palmers’ overall philosophy. In Mesmer
however, we can see a more direct link to the Palmers’ philosophy of healing.
Fuller notes that within Mesmer’s teachings was the doctrine that, because
illness comes from “a disturbance in the body’s supply of animal magnetism,
medical science could be reduced to a simple set of procedures aimed at
supercharging a patient’s nervous system with this mysterious life-giving
energy.” (Fuller, 1986, p. 30) This quote is useful because it shows a link to
the Palmers’ view that the nervous system is central to the expression of
health.

Transcendentalism and Mesmerism were important in shaping
the new American spirituality. If chiropractic can be reconnected to this
philosophical tradition, then it can open dialogues with other disciplines in
this intellectual and psycho-spiritual lineage such as humanistic and
transpersonal psychology. Humanistic psychology is focused on human potential.
Transpersonal psychology is focused more on mystical states and psycho-spiritual
actualization. Both of these disciplines could provide a terminology that will
be useful in differentiating the Palmers’ concepts of psycho-spiritual health
and self-actualization from biological organization. By having a terminology
apart from chiropractic to describe these aspects of health, it becomes easier
to define the chiropractic conception of the self-organizing and self-healing
components of the organism.

B.J. Palmer’s
Worldly Experience

B.J. Palmer’s nephew, W. Heath-Quigley (1989), wrote how
in Palmer’s later years, “he had hoped his books would become his greatest
memorial” (p. 19). In his last twelve years of life, while living with some
severe health challenges, Palmer wrote seventeen books. These were mostly
philosophical in nature. Unfortunately, very few chiropractors in the profession
today have read any of these works. This is another important reason why I have
created this model of his philosophy. Since models are commonly used to explain
scientific and philosophical concepts, perhaps the chiropractic profession will
have more access to his ideas when presented as a model of consciousness. I
realize that even a balanced look at his later works will be viewed with
apprehension by the chiropractic profession. Mostly this is due to Palmer’s
polarized legacy.

Palmer’s attitude was that he was ‘heir to the
throne’ of chiropractic. This attitude created followers and enemies.
According to Quigley (1989), Palmer viewed chiropractic as his family’s
legacy. He was president of The Palmer School of Chiropractic for fifty-five
years. He dismissed his detractors as enemies. One such incident occurred in
1924 when he introduced the neurocalometer (a heat differential device) to the
profession. To Palmer, any chiropractors that did not purchase this new
invention, which he swore was the only objective way to detect the vertebral
subluxation, were against him. Many members of his faculty left and formed their
own school. Keating (1997), Palmer’s biographer, has noted two other such
controversies: the introduction of the x-ray machine in 1911, and the
upper-cervical specific chiropractic technique in 1934. In each of these
instances, Palmer swore that he had found a new truth. I feel that he was
blinded by his vision.

B.J. Palmer’s Spiritual Experience

Few authors have addressed Palmer’s spiritual life from a
perspective of value. Mostly, any discussions of his spiritual ideas are
maligned or clearly misunderstood. As mentioned above, Palmer’s father
introduced him to the philosophy at the age of eighteen. Palmer wrote, “This
man, at the age of eighteen, ‘found himself’ in relation to this fundamental
principle” (1961, p. 247). This statement, as well as several similar ones
throughout his thirty volumes, refers to Palmer’s acknowledgement that his
first glimmerings of a spiritual quest was unfolding at that time in his life.

The search for an answer to the question, “What is innate
intelligence?” was Palmer’s mission in life. A useful analogy to explain the
intensity of his search is the Zen-koan. According to Austin (1998), the koan is
a means for the Zen master to transmit a seed of enlightenment to a student. It
is an irrational question that the student must meditate on, often for years.
Austin proposes that this stretching of rationality, in deep contemplation,
destabilizes the set points of the brain and thus shifts perception. This
creates a background through which the student’s awareness can be triggered
into a spiritual awakening.

Palmer was given the trans-logical question by his father;
how is the health of the human organism related to the infinite wisdom in the
universe, and what is the role of the chiropractor in that process? Palmer
searched far and wide for the answer. He traveled the world three times to every
sacred site from the Buddhist temples at Ankor Wat in Cambodia, to the pyramids
of Egypt (1926, 1953). He studied world religions. He developed the art of
chiropractic (1934), and built a million-dollar research clinic in the 1930s
(1936, 1951). He even owned the first radio station west of the Mississippi,
WHO. (Incidentally, this was where Ronald Reagan got his first job.) Palmer also
lectured widely (Keating, 1997).

To Palmer, the exploration of the mystery of life was a
spiritual quest. His Zen-koan was innate intelligence. He often used this
trans-logical perspective to share the mystery of life with his followers. He
encouraged his students to ponder the shear wonder of the living process (1920,
1949, 1955). In this way, it is clear that he hoped others would awaken to a
spiritual understanding of life similar to his own. He hoped that a
contemplation of the infinite complexity and pervasiveness of the intelligence,
coupled with the chiropractic adjustment, would inspire and transform the
masses. For example, when discussing his intensive study of 25,000 vertebra
night after night in the osteological laboratory, he wrote,

IT WAS HERE IN THIS ONE ROOM,
the Great Teacher and Master of ALL people of ALL times, was Innate. IT WAS HERE
with these retired personalities, with their every-day personal products, I
learned the basic truths of Chiropractic and how to become a Chiropractor.
Up till THIS period of MY life, I was
INVOLVING MY thots, words, and acts much like so many have done and were doing.
The “I” was egotistic as well as
egoistic.
After THIS period of OUR life, WE
began EVOLVING like few people do or have done. From then on, WE thot, spoke,
and acted. From then on, “I” was
humble in the presence of Innate within as WE lived together.
IT WAS THERE, plus time, IN THIS ONE ROOM, I
found MYself. WE found OURselves—INNATE AND I—until EACH lost his or her
singular and single identity and became a plural duality, to eventually walk
down the byways and highways together the rest of OUR lives (1961, p. 163).

(Palmer’s use of capitol
lettering as well as his unusual spelling of “thot” were his ways of
emphasizing concepts.)

This shift of pronoun from “I,” to “We,” is
important because it is very similar to the mystical writings of the world’s
wisdom traditions (Vaughan, 1989), and provides a link to transpersonal
psychology. From 1949 until his death in 1961, in all of his writings, Palmer
referred to himself as “We”. This represented the unity of his conscious
mind and his “super-conscious” innate intelligence both speaking as one.
Based on my analysis of his writing, I have deduced that this shift from
“I,” to “We”, occurred between 1938 and 1949. This quote is important
because it represents the higher stages of psycho-spiritual health in Palmer’s
philosophy; it also mentions how he became a “plural duality”. This could
refer to the “non-dual” aspects of awareness often associated with spiritual
disciplines like that of Ramana Maharshi (Sonde, 1995) and Zen Buddhism (Suzuki,
1970).

Integration
Via Wilber

One further step is necessary before discussing Palmer’s
model of consciousness. We need to examine the analytic tools of integration
suggested by Wilber (1995, 1997). It is here that the terms of differentiation,
disassociation and integration become essential to making sense of the
Palmers’ legacy. Integration is most important if we are to unify the
philosophy around a common theme.

Wilber (1995, 1997)
has developed a four-quadrant system of analysis that acts as a map of the
relationships between art, morals, and science. This is what Wilber calls the
three value-spheres of I, We, and It. The four quadrant system is similar to
what Maturana and Varela (1987) call a “logical accounting” between
subjective experience and objective experience. Understanding this map is our
first step in understanding Wilber’s system so that it can be used in our
analysis and subsequent integration.

Wilber’s (1995) four quadrants (Diagram
B) can be pictured as a plus sign; there are empty spaces in the upper right
and left as well as the lower right and left. In the upper right, Wilber places
scientific empirical study (for example, the chiropractor’s assessment of the
patient’s physiology). In the lower right quadrant, Wilber places social
theories (for example, systems theory, or in a chiropractic sense, the theory
that the body is self-organizing and self-healing). In the upper left quadrant,
Wilber places subjective individual experience (for example, the patient’s
subjective feelings of health or illness). In the lower left quadrant, Wilber
places the collective interior such as culture (for example, the alternative
health community and doctor-patient interaction). According to Wilber, we can
examine any system of thought and determine its level of balance or integration
by understanding how each of these four quadrants are related, valued, and
utilized.

This is where the concepts of differentiation,
disassociation, and integration become important. If, for example, a school of
thought embraces the natural healing ability of the body as a scientific
phenomenon only (upper right quadrant), without any recognition of the
person’s quality of life, i.e., psycho-spiritual health (upper left quadrant),
then that school of thought disassociates the objective from the subjective. If
another school of thought saw no difference between the scientific healing of
the body, and the subjective experience of self-actualization, such as B.J.
Palmer did, then it is not yet differentiated. Integration, according to Wilber
comes after differentiation. Wilber compares this concept to the biological
process of embryological development, “And while this extraordinary
differentiation is occurring, the different cells are simultaneously being
integrated into coherent tissues and systems in the overall organism. This
differentiation-and-integration process allows a single cell to evolve into a
multicellular organism and complex system of exquisite unity and functional
integrity” (1998, p. 53). If differentiation goes too far, disassociation
occurs, which leads to pathology.

As noted above, the mark of the modern world according to
Wilber is this differentiation between science, art, and morals. One poignant
example that Wilber gives is the trial of Galileo (1998). Science was not free
to seek its own objective truth apart from the moral-sphere of the church. In
that same light, the art of the pre-modern world was also dependent upon
religious approval. Wilber suggests that an integration of pre-modern religious
experience with the very modern pursuit of scientific truth is a key to solving
the deep disassociation that plagues modernity.

D.D. Palmer (1910) viewed his discovery of chiropractic as
an integration of science, art, and philosophy. To him, science was the
independent pursuit of the physiological reasons for chiropractic, art was the
techniques used by the chiropractor to adjust and care for patients, and
philosophy was the explanation linking the organizing intelligence of the body
to the organizing intelligence of the cosmos. As mentioned above (in reference
to the definition of innate intelligence), these differentiations were never
clear, so integration has never occurred. This point is very important to the
discussion because it relates directly to the reason why the differentiation and
integration as proposed in this paper, is necessary. Wilber (1997) explains how,
if a system does not deal with all four quadrants, the part that has not been
dealt with will enter the system as a contradiction. The inner turmoil of the
chiropractic profession is evidence of this. A quote from Wilber will explain
this point,

It is important therefore, even for the chiropractors that
remain comfortable with a systems view, or even a reductionist view of biology,
to understand how their perspective fits into Palmer’s model of consciousness.
Such an understanding would be helpful for meaningful dialogue. A common
language is very useful. This historical and philosophical approach to
integrating the philosophy of chiropractic provides such a language.

The
Great Nest of Being

One thread that should be teased out of this picture is
what Wilber (1998) calls the great nest of being. It is here that the
unacknowledged component of chiropractic philosophy lies. It is here that the
link between the Palmers’ philosophy and the history of religious thought are
found (Fuller, 1989), and it is here that a clearer understanding can be had in
relationship to this complex subject matter. Wilber defines the common esoteric
core of all religions as an insight into the nested and emergent progression
from matter to life, to mind, to soul and to spirit. Spirit, Wilber explains is
both the highest rung on this ladder as well as the substance with which the
ladder is made (1986, 1998). According to Palmer, that spirit is known as
intelligence and consciousness.

Wilber (1998) acknowledges the uncomfortable nature of this
topic for scientists. His suggestion is that spiritual experience is a
verifiable practice similar to a scientific experiment. Instead of using the eye
of reason, spiritual insight is viewed with the eye of contemplation. Wilber
provides the example of looking through a telescope to see a planetary object.
This activity is the injunction. In order to experience consciousness permeated
in all things, the practitioner-scientist must do the injunction, and
contemplate, or meditate.

As mentioned above, Palmer’s (1955) method of teaching
others about spiritual awakening was through a focused contemplation of the
wonder and wisdom of creation, coupled with the reception of chiropractic
adjustments. The chiropractic adjustment to Palmer was the injunction. When
obstructions to the nervous system’s communication are removed, according to
Palmer, the patient could experience physiological health as well as
psycho-spiritual health. This latter aspect is due to the direct communication
between the wisdom in the body and the conscious thinking mind.

In Palmer’s model, the actualization of spiritual
experience is the true aim of the philosophy (1961). This is very close to
Wilber’s explanation of the great nest of being (1997). According to Palmer
(1957), consciousness is the source of the universal intelligence (which
organizes matter), from which stems the innate intelligence (life), from which
stems educated intelligence (mind), from which arises internal
self-actualization (soul and spirit). This is certainly not part of the
consensus in the profession today. The point of constructing this model of
Palmer’s thought is not to suggest that chiropractors should start advocating
spiritual growth nor discuss whether consciousness permeates matter and life. It
is more for a contextual understanding of the philosophy. Chiropractors can
place their own perspective of the philosophy within the model. Thus, they can
understand their perspective as linked to a tradition and to other ideas within
a wider philosophical system.

The Model of
Consciousness

By using the conceptual framework of model building,
Palmer’s main points can be broken down into four basic levels of
consciousness. I structured this model of his philosophy according to level in
order to make it easier to understand. I use the term “level” for two
reasons. Level implies a developmental and teleological direction. Level is
defined as, “relative place, degree, or stage: a high level of development,
position on a vertical scale” (Funk and Wagnall, 1993, p. 443). Both of these
reasons are important to Palmer’s philosophy because the organism is
understood to be expressing its potential organization via health at all times
(Palmer, 1949). This expression is teleological in the sense that the living
system strives to achieve an optimal health. Stages are important as we can
classify the levels of health on the continuum from cellular health to
psycho-spiritual health.

Each level can be explored in its own right. For example,
for the chiropractors that choose to focus on only the self-organizing aspects
of living systems, research can be linked to other fields such as complexity
theory (Kauffman, 1995), systems theory (Capra, 1995), chaos theory (Freeman,
1991), and biology (Lipton, 1999). Most importantly, the differentiation of this
level can create dialogue between therapeutic and non-therapeutic chiropractors.
For those who choose to focus on the link between this self-organization process
and conscious experience, research can be linked to other fields such as
consciousness studies (Varela, 1991), and philosophy (Chalmers, 1995). Likewise,
for those who choose to focus on spiritual actualization, research can be linked
to psychology (Maslow, 1968; Taylor, 1999), and other health disciplines
(Johnson, 1995).

Level one and two; universal and innate

Level one of Palmer’s model of consciousness, is the
organizing intelligence of matter, universal intelligence. For reasons of
brevity and complexity, I will not say much about level one. It can be
understood in the context of the great nest of being. In Palmer’s model, it is
the ground of all being, intelligence, and organization.

Level two is the organizing intelligence of living matter:
innate intelligence. This level is where Palmer begins to mention consciousness.
There are several instances where he refers to innate intelligence as
“super-consciousness,” as well as the organizer of living matter. Palmer
wrote,

Palmer’s LAW OF LIFE includes a primary factor, Innate
Intelligence, as the abstract Governing Director; controlling ALL free flows
of intelligent force to EVERY organic muscular motor between IT and ITS
movable expression. This Great Scheme of Creation is a super-consciousness
(Palmer, 1958, p. 93).

According to Stephenson (1927), a member of Palmer’s
faculty, innate intelligence was the law of organization akin to the law of
gravity. This, coupled with descriptions of the higher levels of awareness, and
super-consciousness, show Palmer’s attempt at integration. Unfortunately, this
is not integration because there was never a differentiation.

Differentiating level two is the most important point of
this paper. It is here where the major disagreements exist within the
profession. I have suggested (Senzon, 1999) that innate intelligence can be
understood as the process of health expression. I termed this process the Health
Continuum Model (HCM) to represent all expressions of health from cellular
organization to psycho-spiritual actualization. By using Wilber’s
four-quadrant system (Diagram B), we can define
these aspects of health more precisely. According to Palmer, cellular health is
a natural process. This is akin to autopoiesis or self-creation (Maturana and
Varela, 1980). This biological self-organizing process can be explained on the
right side of Wilber’s map. The upper right quadrant is where biology can be
empirically studied. The lower right quadrant is where the theory of systemic
organization can be defined. Palmer described these components in the same
language as he described psycho-spiritual health (Wilber’s upper left
quadrant).

Many of the schools of thought within chiropractic have
differentiated the living processes from any spiritual allusions. This
differentiation was a necessary move within the profession to distance itself
from undifferentiated definitions. However, instead of just differentiation, the
profession has generally disassociated the two. It is here that Wilber warns of
problematic contradictions. It is here, that the chiropractic profession
overwhelmingly admits to one aspect of the philosophy; ‘the body heals
itself,’ without acknowledging the connection to the rest of the philosophy or
its roots. By clearly differentiating these spheres and then integrating them
along Wilber’s quadrant system, new insights and relationships emerge. Before
discussing levels three and four, a more detailed look at the loose consensus in
the chiropractic profession will be useful.

The
Consensus (revisited)

A consensus does loosely exist in the profession. However,
the focus is generally on differences. The break between symptomatic-based care
(Winterstein, 2000), and non symptomatic-based care (Gelardi, 1996), is the most
famous difference. This split has existed since the profession’s inception
although it has changed and fractured even more since then (Strauss, 1991).
There has been of late, a discussion about officially separating the profession
along these lines (Riekman, 2000; Winterstien, 2000). Within this discussion,
when the concept of integration arises, psycho-spiritual health is not usually
discussed. Even if this dilemma is never agreed upon, perhaps some mutual
respect and acceptance will arise from the type of integration proposed in this
paper. Another commonly accepted reason for the fractured profession is how the
evolution of ideas and techniques often created polarity. New ideas were
embraced by some and shunned by others (Keating, 1997).

As discussed above, I propose that the main source of the
fracturing is due to the conflicting definitions of innate intelligence as soul,
spirit, and the source of self-organizing and self-creating processes in the
body. Because of Palmer’s non-differentiated use of the term, many definitions
came into common use thus creating more confusion, misunderstandings, and
apprehension. I suggest that if all aspects of the profession acknowledge their
common consensus, that the body is self-healing and self-organizing, then it
would become easier to accept differing perspectives. Whether their objective be
symptomatic care, non-symptomatic care, or psycho-spiritual actualization, unity
is possible.

Most of the chiropractic schools have dismissed the
philosophy, and done away with the term innate intelligence. A kernel of the
concept remains, the body heals itself. Los Angeles Chiropractic College
(Phillips, et al, 1994) refers to vitalism and homeostasis as important aspects
of its philosophy. National Chiropractic College (Winterstein, 2000) makes no
reference to innate intelligence, but does acknowledge that the body heals
itself when the spinal, neural, and muscular systems are properly aligned.
Sherman College of Straight Chiropractic (Koch, 1998) still uses the term innate
intelligence, but defines it as the organization of living organisms only, which
is best expressed when the vertebral subluxation is adjusted. Few of the schools
discuss the psycho-spiritual aspects of the original definition.

Life University emphasizes the psycho-spiritual attributes
of the term innate intelligence, without differentiating it from the scientific
aspects (Williams, 2000). This is much like Palmer’s original definition,
confusing. Other schools such as Los Angeles Chiropractic do not use the term
innate intelligence, but do acknowledge the psycho-spiritual aspects of health
as part of their mission (Phillips et al, 1994). Thus, the psycho-spiritual
overtones to the philosophy usually remain in an undifferentiated or
disassociated way, while the scientific undertones remain in a slightly
differentiated and non-integrated way.

By restructuring Palmer’s philosophy into a model of
consciousness, the psycho-spiritual components of his definition of innate
intelligence can be seen in a new light. Much like the health continuum model
(Senzon, 1999), psycho-spiritual actualization can be understood as a relevant
and integrated aspect of the healing process. Through the use of Wilber’s
four-quadrants, we can place the biological definitions of living systems on the
right side of the map, and the interior, subjective dimensions of health,
growth, and healing on the left side of the map.

Level three and four; waking consciousness and awakening

Palmer’s discussion of consciousness, as an experiential
phenomenon, comes into play with what I call level three, educated intelligence,
and level four, self-creation. These levels enter the domain of psychology.
Level three is the conscious, reflecting, and rational mind. It is here that
Palmer (1949, 1955, 1961) devoted hundreds of pages. He criticized the
biomedical reductionist outlook because he considered it fixated in level three.
He implored scientists and medical doctors to awaken to a greater appreciation
for and communion with the inner wisdom of all life.

Level four is the intuitive ability to attune the conscious
mind to the inherent intelligence that is shared by all living organisms. In his
later works, Palmer discussed how the chiropractic adjustment helps the
individual’s conscious mind (level three), to attune to the innate
intelligence, as well as how the individual can further utilize this inner
wisdom as a guide. I have concluded that this process occurs in two stages.

The first stage of level four is when the individual
recognizes the value of their body’s wisdom (due to the healing associated
with the chiropractic adjustment). This is an important point, because it is not
yet dealing with psycho-spiritual actualization, and thus may be more palatable
to those with a reductionist perspective. This first stage of level four is when
the individual begins to pay attention to bodily symptoms as messages from the
wisdom of the body instead of merely negative disturbances that must be removed.
This is a health psychology that integrates the scientific objective (Wilber’s
upper right quadrant) with the validity of the patient’s experience
(Wilber’s upper left quadrant). This aspect of Palmer’s philosophy has been
advanced recently by Epstein (1999). To Palmer however, this shift of
consciousness was not enough.

The second stage of level four is what I call
self-creation. Palmer considered this stage of awakening the ultimate spiritual
enlightenment. To Palmer (1951, 1955), every mystic from Buddha to Jesus, and
every genius from Edison to Lincoln, all shared this stage in common. The
ability to access the inner wisdom was Palmer’s secret to awakening. It is
here that similarities to Emerson are most relevant (Miller, 2000). How the
individual communicates with the intelligent consciousness immanent in the
natural world becomes the focus of the philosophy.

This state of consciousness can be understood in terms of
psychological and spiritual transformation. This accessing of the
inner-storehouse of potential wisdom is comparable to the psychodynamic view of
psychology (Taylor and Krippner, 1998); it is also akin to mystical awakening
(Wilber, 1995). Palmer wrote about the individual’s awakening process,

Should that time come when his finite mind could and did
KNOW the infinite mind WITHIN, then his external finite mind would cease to
be, because it would then be infinite in scope, understanding and application
(1957, p. 9).

This quote is a good example of the Palmer’s Zen-koan
method of communication. Palmer’s ultimate mode of imparting his wisdom was
through this type of trans-logical comment. By stretching the chiropractor’s
and the patient’s rational thinking awareness (level 3), to the depths of the
innate within, he attempted to point individuals to the truth that lies within.
By contemplating the mysterious intelligence that lies behind scientific truth
(Wilber’s upper right quadrant), one can awaken to the source of that
intelligence. This contemplation as well as the experience both occur in
Wilber’s upper left quadrant.

While the shift of consciousness from level three to level
four may not be important to most chiropractors, it was very important to
Palmer. He spent his final years focused on describing this shift in
consciousness. To him, only the chiropractor who was awakened to the infinite
wisdom could deliver the true essence of chiropractic (1955). Also, when
patients were taught about this awakening while experiencing it in their bodies
via the chiropractic adjustment, a new phase in the evolution of consciousness
could begin (1957).

Conclusion

Although this model is simple, it reconstitutes for the
chiropractic profession its own integral philosophy. This is different than the
holistic movement in the profession, which attempts to make chiropractic
everything to everyone. Instead, it links the various streams of thought within
the profession that are oriented toward psycho-spiritual growth with those
focused on physiological health only. It creates a bridge between the different
camps in the profession, while allowing them to maintain their differences. It
also proposes a link to other disciplines such as psychology, biology,
complexity theory, consciousness studies, health studies, and most of all,
integral studies.

Palmer’s model of consciousness begins with the
intelligence in matter, which is based on an immanent consciousness. From there,
the intelligence extends to living systems as the cause of self-organization and
self-healing. With organisms that contain nervous systems, this organization is
more intricately woven and complicated. Distortions of the spinal system could
cause impediments to the expression of the intelligence through the biology.
This could also distort communication between the educated/conscious mind and
the immanent intelligence. According to Palmer, such communication is normal and
natural. In fact, it is the mark of spiritual and intellectual genius. In this
way, the chiropractic adjustment is a vehicle to help the individual to achieve
biological health as well as communion with the super-consciousness and hence
with all of creation.

Riekeman, G. (2000, May). What’s the point of a split
profession? Dynamic Chiropractic.

Senzon, S. (1999). Causation related to self-organization
and health related quality of life expression based on the vertebral subluxation
model, the philosophy of chiropractic and the new biology. Journal
of Vertebral Subluxation Research, 3(3), 104-112.